Suspender



(No Model.)

J. 0. FOLSOM. SUSPENDER CATCH.

No. 436,653. Patented Sept. 16,1890.

INVENTOH.

A TTOHNE YS n., mom-um UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN o. FOLSOM, or CANON CITY, OREGON.

SUSPENDER-CATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 436,653, datedSeptember 16, 18190.

Application filed November 30, 1889- Serial No. 332,074. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN O. FOLSOM, of CanonCity, in the county of Grant and State of Oregon, haveinvented anew anduseful Improvementin Suspender-Catches, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in Suspender-catches especiallydesigned for use in connection with the tips of suspenders, and has forits object to provide a device of simple and economic construct-ioncapable of automatically locki n g itself when the suspendertip isapplied and ejecting said tip upon the movement of the lock-lever of thecatch.

A further object of the invention is to construct a catch forsuspender-tips which will not when worn injure the garments coming incontact therewith.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claim.

Reierence is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification,in which similar letters and figures of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the device, illustrating a tip aslocked to the catch. Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating a tip asbeing ejected from the catch, and Fig. 3 is an edge view of the catchand the tip therein.

The body of the catch consists, preferably, of a flat plate 10, shapedsomewhat to the contour of a shield, and having a curved recess 11produced in one side edge, forming thereby a hook-section 12 at thebottom of said plate. The plate is further provided at its upper edgewith a transverse slot or opening 13-, through which the webbing 14 ofthe suspender may be passed, and in the front face of the plate, uponthat edge in which the curved recess is formed, and near the uppercorner, a depression or cavity 15 is made, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and2.

Upon the front face of the hook-section the lower end of a lock-lever 16is pivoted, the said lock-lever being formed at its lower end into ahook-section 17, and the said lock-lever is so pivoted upon thehook-section of the body-plate that the outer curved lines of bothhook-sections are essentially concentric. The

upper or shank section of the lock-lever is curved in the direction ofthe uncut side edge of the body-plate, and at its upper extremity thesaid shank-section is provided atone side with a tongue 17 adapted whenthe lever is in the locked position to enter the cavity 15 of thebody-plate, and at the opposite side the metal, of which the lever iscomposed, is ordinarily struck up to form a rib or offset 18, tofacilitate the manipulation of the lever.

The lock lever is constructed of spring metal, so that when the upperend of the lever is carried across the body-plate and the tongue 17reaches the depression 15 it will automatically spring therein andremain in such position.

The eye19 of the suspender-tip 20 is of peculiar construction, andconsists of a lower loop-section a, to which the upper ends of thewebbing of the tip are secured,and an upper loop-section a, which lattersection partakes more of the contour of a link, and is placed at a rightangle to the lower section.

In operation,the upper portion of the looklever being drawn away fromthe cavity 15, when the upper section aof the eye 19 is introduced intothe recess 11 of the body-plate and carried down to a bearing upon thehook 12 thereof, as it is carried down to contact with the said hook thesaid upper section a of the eye bears upon the hook-section of thelock-lever, thereby throwing the said lever automatically in thedirection of the cavity 15, causing the tongue l7 of the lever to springinto the said cavity, and a projection 21, formed on the lock-leverabove its hook end, closes over the beak of the hook of the body-plate,as illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus, since the lock-lever is constructed ofspring metal and the tongue 17 a has entered the cavity 15 of thebody-plate, the eye of the suspender-tip is prevented from working loosefrom the body, and the retention of the eye in the latch is furthermaintained by the bearing of the eye itself upon the hook-section of thelock-lever, as the greater the amount of tension exerted upon the hookthe more pressure the said hook exerts upon the locklever. To releasethe eye of the suspendertip from the catch, the upper end of the leveris thrown across the body-plate away from the cavity 15, whereupon thehook-section of the lockelever is raised upward, and carries with it theupper link-section a of the eye 19, and when the beaks of thehook-section of the lock-lever and the hook-section of the bodyplate arein registry the said eye is compelled to drop from the latch, asillustrated in Fig. 2.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent As an improved article of manufacture, aSuspender-catch consisting in the flat bodyplate 10, having a recess 11,forming a hook 12 on its lower end in the same plane as the plate, and adepression or recess 15 above said recess, a lever 16, pivoted at itslower hooked end 17 to the face of the lower hooked end of the plateparallel therewith, the hook 17 lying in the same plane as the lever, aprojection 21 above the hook 17 on the same edge therewith to close therecess 11, a projection 17, entering depression or recess to lock thelever in this position, anda suspendertip eye to engage the hook 12,said eye being locked in place when the lever is locked and thrown fromthe hook 12 by the hook 17 when 25 the lever is thrown, substantially asset forth.

JOHN O. FOLSOM.

lVitnesses:

J. D. SUTHERLAND, J. J. McOULLoUGH.

